Reviews by BB1313:

12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours black with no light getting though. Small off-white head fades quickly and leaves decent lacing and rentention. The first thing I smell is anise and black licorice. It actually dominates the nose along with some chocolate malts. It sure doesn't smell like a saison, and it really doesn't taste like one either. There's a slight tartness in the flavors. I can pick up some black cherries, dates, and raisins. Bittersweet flavors. Reminiscent of a stout? The Belgian characteristics are lacking. Mouthfeel is nice, light and has a moderate amount of carbonation. Finishes dry. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Interesting beer.

This is a very unique beer. It's pretty hard to classify what I'm drinking. It's definitely a hybrid. The anise/black licorice characteristics seem to dominate, so if you're into that, this is for you. If you're looking for something different, this is for you. It's a very odd beer. One second I'm enjoying it, and then the next I'm confused. It reminded me more of a porter/stout than any Belgian style beer. Unique..

More User Reviews:

Poured a deep dark chocolate brown with a nicely formed light beige head atop.alot of black licorice in the nose along with some sweet spiced cherries.First off the black licorice just seemed to overwhelm my palate,Iam not a fan of black licorice so that was a bit unpleasant,undereath the onslaught I picked up some earthiness and dark toast.Started off real well but for my taste I just got to much licorice to really enjoy,obviously alot of people like black licorice and may like this more than me.

Smell: Holy licorice! All I smell is anise. I would like to say that I can detect some roasted malt and spiciness, but I think that would be a lie.

Taste: Certainly taste a lot more than anise, but that is present as well. Nice dried out roasted malts that taste of smoke, char and coffee. Pretty spicy as well, with rye and clove.

Feel: Moderate carbonation, with a medium body (lighter than it looks). It is fairly smooth and lightly chalky, but the chalkiness doesn't bother me as it usually does because it works with the very dry roasted and spicy finish.

Overall: Other than the one-dimensional aroma, this was surprisingly good. Wish I had bought more than a single.

Poured cold from the bottle, this beer was pitch black. It had a nice cream-coloured head, while sitting on the black beer, looked very nice. The smell was very strong and very complex. There were notes of spices, burnt barley, molasses, and a dominant anise smell. The taste followed the smell like a map... Very complex, almost too complex, with the anise taste overpowering the other flavours. The anise flavour lingered for a bit while the aftertaste of roasted barley took over, which was a nice finish.

Would I buy it again? No. I enjoy the taste of anise, but this beer had too much going on.

Unique, but something I could not drink much of. Black, very dry. Like the base for something that had to be added, and it wasn't. Aroma was OK. Bottle from Steve. Some licorice. Low drinkability. Missing hop, mouthfeel, malt. I may cook with it though.

This is a surprisingly complex and unique saison. It's has a ton of flavor. The black licorice and anise notes dominate which I'm not crazy about but the uniqueness, the rye, the dark fruit, the roasted malts and chocolate all play a part as well. I'm impressed. This is definitely worth a try.

Four Witches pours a dark, chocolate fudge color. It looks black initially. When held to light, a few burgundy highlights are apparent. It’s not quite opaque. A light tan head covers the top. It’s modest and barely covers the surface before disappearing quickly. Lacing was very light and spotty on the glass.

The nose is alright. It seems a little weak. More strength would easily upgrade it. It does feature some dark malt notes up front. Chocolate, roasted, and caramel malts all seem to be present. Smells a little sweet. It does have some earthy and grainy notes throughout. Yeast brings some spicy notes to the table. Interestingly enough, anise seems to be the strongest spice scent. Perhaps a little pepper backing it. Alcohol is masked pretty well. Not bad.

The flavor keeps the pace. It definitely has a strong anise presence. If you’re not into black licorice, you probably won’t like it. It’s definitely a tad strong for my taste. The malt base is a tad roasty, but is mostly chocolate and light, sweet caramel. It’s not bad. Definitely intriguing. Belgian yeast is pretty flavorful. The spicy notes it brings to the table are interesting. I’m not sure if anise is a product of that or not. There are some pepper and clove notes, as well. It’s herbal and grainy throughout. Alcohol isn’t much of a factor at all. Finishes with a bit spices, herbs, and black licorice.

Four Witches has a body that’s on the lighter side of medium. Carbonation feels light and rather soft. It definitely doesn’t seem as refreshing as your typical Saison, but I’m sure they weren’t going for that. For what it is, I like the feel pretty well.

New Holland’s been a very hit and miss brewery for me. Four Witches falls somewhere in between the two. It’s alright. I like the idea of a Black Saison. This one has a bit too much of an anise or black licorice flavor going. It’d be better with a little less of that. Still worth checking out. Grab a single bottle if you can.